Kidney Beans And Rice Pot In Pot Instant Pot Rajma Chawal

Pair with Aloo Gobi Sabzi: Potato Cauliflower Stir-fry In northern India, this popular combination is called Rajma Chawal, where Rajma refers to any variety of kidney beans, and, Chawal means rice. This dish is very close to my heart- it represents my Punjabi roots and has countless childhood memories attached to it. I n this recipe, I have cooked Kidney Beans and Rice Pot-in-Pot, which means I’ve cooked both in the same pot, using the pot-in-pot technique (PIP), a huge time and effort saver. When you scroll down, you’ll see an elaboration of the PIP concept. You can learn more on my dedicated page for PIP (pot-in-pot) cooking HERE.

Canned vs Dry Kidney Beans

When I have time to plan ahead, I soak the dry kidney beans the night before. Then, I cook these rinsed and drained beans in a mildly spicy, tomato based curry, seasoned with warm Indian spices. Beans take around 45-50 minutes to cook on a stove-top, so I always pressure cook them, which cuts the cooking time in half. For weeknights, using canned kidney beans and crushed tomatoes in the same recipe, makes this comfort meal possible in 5-6 minutes of cooking time. When using canned beans, this kidney beans and rice recipe can be combined with white Basmati or Jasmine rice, with a cook time of 6 minutes.

Pot-in-Pot Cooking (PIP)

I cooked the kidney beans curry in the main pot and brown rice in a smaller pot, placed on a trivet in the Instant Pot. When cooking using the PIP technique, the important thing to remember is, to combine things with similar cooking times.

Here’s how you make Rajma Chawal:

Some popular PIP combinations:

These cooking times are based on my texture and cook level preference. You can adjust it to your taste and use this chart as a guideline.

Accessories I use for this meal:

This Pot-in-Pot technique can work in a stove-top pressure cooker like Hawkins Pressure Cooker too. Simply follow this recipe and start off on medium heat on your stove. Reduce heat to medium after first whistle, and cook for 20-22 minutes, depending on your stove’s heat capacity.